Challenge


Distaff Challenge, Battle of Bases On Saturday at Ruidoso Downs
Pricey Girl won her Rainbow Futurity trial aet Ruidoso Downs last summer.

© Gay Harris / Ruidoso Downs
Distaff Challenge, Battle of Bases On Saturday at Ruidoso Downs

RUIDOSO DOWNS, NM—AUGUST 4, 2019—Jarrett Rogers' Pricey Girl racing in the $26,928 ARC Ruidoso Distaff Challenge for fillies and mares and the inaugural Battle of the Bases lead a diverse afternoon on Saturday at Ruidoso Downs.

Also on Saturday, thoroughbred two-year-olds race in the trials to the $143,091 Rio Grande Senor Futurity and the $123,165 Rio Grande Senorita Futurity, each at five-and-one-half furlongs. The Senorita Futurity qualifiers return for the finals on September 1. The Senor Futurity qualifiers race in the finals on September 2.

The Battle of the Bases brings together teams representing Holloman, Kirtland and Cannon Air Force bases to compete in a variety of competitions, culminating with a tug-of-war to determine the overall winner.

That winning team takes a large traveling trophy and a $1,000 donation to their base's workout facility. The second- and third-place teams will each receive a $500 donation.

The teams vie in a variety of competitions. They includepush-ups, sit-ups, an obstacle course, a 100-yard sprint and a one-mile relay from the starting gate.

The equine athletes competing on Saturday afternoon are headed by impressive recent winner Pricey Girl in the 400-yard ARC Ruidoso Distaff Challenge.

Pricey Girl raced to a three-quarter-length win on July 26 in an allowance race that gave preference to horses eligible to the ARC Ruidoso Distaff Challenge. The top-five finishers in that allowance race are returning in the ARC Ruidoso Distaff Challenge.

A three-year-old daughter of Fdd Dynasty, Pricey Girl overcame 17-1 odds to get her first win in more than a year. She covered the 350 yards in a fast :17.291 under jockey Jansen Melancon, who filled in for an injured Alan Hernandez.

"She always seemed to get out of the gate," trainer Rudy Valles said. "Jansen kept her busy (in the allowance race) and aggressively rode her in the last half of the race.

"She's big and tall. She's a beautiful, beautiful mare."

Hernandez rides Pricey Girl with the eighth post position.

Mauro Eli Zaborosky's homebred Yashira Vista finished second to Pricey Girl in that allowance race.

Yashira Vista is in peak form for trainer Mike Robbins. The daughter of One Famous Eagle won an allowance race back in May at Remington Park and then came to Ruidoso Downs to finish third in the $25,000 Dash For Speed Stakes on June 1.

Jimmy Dean Brooks will be aboard Yashira Vista with the second post position.

Daniel Balderrama and Edgar Torres' Fast Gold Prize was the 9-5 favorite in the pivotal allowance race and managed a fifth-place finish.

Trained by Cynthia Gonzalez, Fast Gold Prize earned that favoritism with a second-place finish behind the hot Valiant Tiberias in the $53,108 Adequan Ruidoso Derby Challenge in her previous start.

Gonzalez will have Jaime Parga Leos ride Fast Gold Prize from the fourth post position.

The winner of the ARC Ruidoso Distaff Challenge earns a berth in the $100,000 (est.) ARC Distaff Challenge Championship at Albuquerque Downs on October 26.

The Senorita Futurity trials are for New Mexico-bred fillies while the Senor Futurity trials bring out colts and geldings.

B4 Farms, LLC's Deck Humor along with Jimmy and Rebecca Powers' Shame on Powers, the top-two finishers in the $157,005 Mountain Top Futurity, lead the three trials to the Senor Futurity.

Deck Humor battled with Shame on Powers through stretch in the Mountain Top Futurity. Deck Humor was able to prevail by a neck at the finish line.

The Todd Fincher-trained Deck Humor, winner of two of three career starts, is in the first trial, the fourth race. Juan Ochoa rides Deck Humor from the fourth post position.

Shame on Powers had a three-race winning streak end in the Mountain Top Futurity. The Cliff Lambert-trained gelding won the $60,000 Ken Kendrick Memorial Handicap during his winning streak.

Jockey Miguel Perez has the mount aboard Shame on Powers with the eighth post position in the second trial, the sixth race.

Owner Sebastian Gonzales paid the $10,000 supplemental nomination fee for Take Me to Havana to gain eligibility to the two Senorita Futurity trials.

The James. J. Gonzales-trained Take Me to Havana comes off her only career start in a Ruidoso Downs maiden race. The Laugh Track daughter went from gate-to-wire to win by more than five lengths.

Alfredo J. Juarez rides Take Me to Havana from the first post position in the second trial, the seventh race.

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